Solid lubricant launching arrangement for a vessel

ABSTRACT

A solid lubricant launching arrangement for a vessel to facilitate movement of the vessel during launching.

[1 1 3,681,926 [451 Aug. 8, 1972 United States Patent Thatcher et al.

...6l/67 .61/67 X 94/3 S m Wm mg S 968 Mmm WNW 653 1 WWW 6 U Ms L x um mm mm C 3 w m w A m Ln n m F m T .m C mmmmm W E R U K m e m m L m @Am A [22] Filed: March 3,1971

[21] Appl.No.: 120,523

Primary Examiner-J. Karl Bell Attorney-Jack W. Hayden 52 US. ABSTRACT [51] Int. 3/00 A n lubricant launching arrangement for a vessel [58] Field of Search.......6l/67, 64, l4, [5; 94/3, 3 S; t f at fth 161,189,197,19,227H56l247289 0 am! emovement o evesse dunng aunchlng 4Claims,3Drawingflgm-es P'ATENTEDnus 8 m2 INVENTORI Jmb w. Magda TTORNE Y8 SOLID LUBRICANT LAUNCIIING ARRANGEMENT FOR A VESSEL CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION The present invention relates to subject matter disclosed but not claimed in copending application Ser.

No. 49,607 tiled June 25, I970 of Harry .I. Fiegel, Jr., and Russell S. Thatcher, now Patent No. 3,650.l [5.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an arrangement for facilitating the construction and/or launching of vessels.

Various systems and apparatus have been employed over the years in construction and/or launching vessels of various size. Generally speaking, no completely satisfactory and reliable arrangement has been arrived at for lubricating the launching arrangement before erection of a vessel since, with larger vessels, the weight and bulk thereof will extrude ordinary lubricant from between the surfaces to which it is applied, thereby reducing the efi'ectiveness and reliability of the lubricant during the final launch phase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a solid lubricant launching arrangement which will withstand the high unit loading of large seagoing vessels during erection and facilitates launching thereof.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a solid lubricant arrangement for launching vessels.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a plastic material between the beams which supports the hull of the vessel to be launched and the means that support the beams to facilitate movement of the beams and the vessel as it is launched.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a solid lubricating arrangement for launching a vessel comprising a low friction plastic film which is covered by layers of stronger and tougher plastic material and positioned between the hull of a vessel and the supporting members to facilitate movement of the hull during launching thereof.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from a consideration of the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail as it is applied in connection with its use with the above referred to copending application for patent. However, it can be appreciated that the present invention may be employed in any vessel launching arrangement.

Referring to FIG. 1, a plurality of railroad tracks 10, 11, and 12 is provided which extends from a ship construction area (not shown) to a ship launching area represented generally by the numeral 14 adjacent a body of water indicated by the numeral 15, but not shown. The railroad tracks 10, I1, and 12 run parallel to one another and the middle two, 11 and 12, are located closely adjacent one another with the track 10 being spaced a greater distance therefrom as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

Movably mounted on the tracks 10, 11, and 12 is a ship support arrangement referred to generally by the numeral 20 and comprising a series of interconnected carriage units 22. Each of the support carriage units 22 includes movable carriage means represented by a set of four carriage units or wheeled truck units 23, 24, 25, and 26, better seen in FIG. 2. Each of the support carriage units 22 also includes tiltable support means represented by an elongated support beam or tilt beam 27 which is pivotally supported by the four carriage units or truck units 23, 24, 25, and 26 as described in detail in said copending application hereinbefore referred to. The tilt beams 27 extend transversely across the tracks 10, 11, and 12, and, hence, transversely to the direction of movement of the truck units 23, 24, 25, and 26. The beams 27 also are arranged at spaced intervals longitudinally of, and transversely beneath, the hull of the vessel represented in dotted outline generally at 31.

Each of the tilt beams 27 is provided with an elongated slidable skid assembly referred to generally by the numeral 28 in the drawings. The skid assemblies 28 extend longitudinally of and are longer than the tilt beams 27 as indicated in dotted line in FIG. 1 of the drawings.

As described in said copending application, suitable means are provided for tilting the tilt beam 27 so that the skid assemblies 28 enable the vessel 31 mounted thereon to move down the way structure referred to generally at 19 into the water covered area 15. The outline of the hull of the ship is indicated, as previously noted, at 31 in FIG. 1 of the drawings, and it will be noted that the longer dimension of the hull 31 runs crosswise to the tilt beams 27. The hull is supported on the slidable skid assemblies 28 which, as previously noted, in turn, rest on top of and are secured with the tilt beams 27.

In FIG. 1 of the drawings, various successive positions for the hull 31 and part of the skid assemblies 28 are indicated in outline form as they move down the way structure represented at 19. The hull 31 and the skids 28 moving therewith are shown in solid line form at the right-hand side of FIG. I after they have entered into the water covered area represented by the numeral 15. As shown in the solid line representation, the skids 28 which move with the vessel during launch may be tied to the hull 31 by means of hanger cables 32 which run from each end of the skids that move with the hull 31 to appropriate fixtures on an upper portion of the hull 31. After the hull 31 has come to rest in the water 15, the hanger cables 32 are unfastened and the skids 28 may be hauled back to shore for later use on another ship hull.

The skids 28 each comprise a beam which is sup ported by a channel 30 and secured to each of the tilt beams 27, and wooden beams 35 rest in the channel and extend longitudinally and continuously throughout each of the channels 30.

Each of the support carriage units 22 may further include at least one additional carriage unit or truck unit represented by the numeral 34 in FIG. 1 located at the landward end of the tilt beam 27 for supporting such end of the beam 27 when the beam 27 is in a horizontal position.

Various mechanisms may be employed for tilting the tilt beams 27 and the structures carried thereon when it is desired to launch the hull 31. One type of mechanism may be a suitably operated jack mechanism located on the landward side adjacent the landwardmost track and which includes lifting members which may be forced upwardly against the tilt beams 27 to elevate and tilt the hull 3] and tilt beams 27 to the inclined, dotted line position illustrated on the left-hand side of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 illustrates the inclined way structure 19 along which the vessel moves as it moves from the carriages 22 to the water covered area 15. As there illustrated, each of the elongated way structures 19 includes a concrete base portion 46 having a series of wooden planks or timbers 47 carried by the concrete base portion in any suitable manner. The uppermost end of each way structure 19 includes a recessed portion or shoulder portion 45 for receiving the waterside end of one of the tilt beams 27, when the vessel is tilted for launching as shown in FIG. 1. Thus, when the beams 27 are tilted, they will be supported by the shoulder portion 45 illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings and the channels 30 will be aligned with the way structure 19 to discharge the beams 35 and vessel 31 supported thereon.

To facilitate a smooth launching operation, it is desirable to form some form of lubrication between the lower surfaces of the part of the skids 28 (i.e., the beams 35) which move with the vessel and the upper surfaces of the various tilt beam channel members 30 which are connected to each of the tilt beams 27 as shown in FIG. 3 ofthe drawings.

As shown in greater detail in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the lubrication is provided by the placement of a low friction interface material between the channel members 30 and bottoms of the wooden beams 35 supported thereon. The beams 35 comprise that part of the skid assembly which moves with the vessel as it is launched, and the channel members 30 act as guides for the beams positioned therein as the beams and vessel move off the tilt beam 27 and channel 30 and down the way structures 19 and into the water covered area 15.

The wooden beam 35 is positioned in the channel 30 prior to construction of the vessel hull 31 on the tilt beams 27. The wooden beams 35 abut the nether side of the hull 31 and, as noted, are supported in the tilt beam channel member 30.

The low friction interface material is indicated generally by the numeral 38 in FIG. 3 of the drawings and is shown as comprising three relatively thin sheets of plastic material laid out one on top of the other. The upper and lower protective sheets are formed of a flexible and tough plastic material such as, for example only, nylon or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), or the like, while the middle sheet is formed of low friction plastic, by way of example only, such as Teflon. These sheets are represented at 39, 40, and 41, the covering sheets of flexible and tough plastic material being 39 and 4] and the low friction plastic being represented at 40 therebetween. These thin sheets are spread to cover the entire length of each of the tilt beam channel members 30 before the wooden beams 35 are set in place on top thereof. The width of the plastic sheets is preferably at least that of the beam 35. The low static coefficient of friction of the low friction plastic material enables a high degree of uniformity in the initial movement of the various wooden beams 35 at the commencement of the launching operation when the wooden beams 35 first start to slide off the tilt beams 27 and connected channel members 30. The upper and lower layers of protective plastic material insure a more uniform surface against which the relatively less tough and low friction plastic material may operate and inhibit shredding and absorption thereof.

When the tilt beams 27 are tilted and rested in recess 45, and beams 35 and vessel 3] are aligned with inclined way structures 19, the vessel 31 and attached beams 35 slide on the lubricating arrangement described and then over wooden planks 47 on ways 19 and into the water.

Thus, a suitable lubricant is provided between the beams 35 carried by the channel members 30, such lubricant being solid plastic, thereby avoiding the problems that would normally be encountered with a lubricant such as grease.

The layers 39 and 41 act as a protective covering for the low friction plastic such as by way of example only, Teflon, and since the plastic lubricant extends continuously between the top of the channel members 30 and the beams 35 carried by each of such channel members 30, the lubrication extends continuously therealong without interruption.

This arrangement enables a smooth launching with substantially no relative movement of the ship's hull and the beam 35 of each skid assembly 28 so that the vessel 31 and the beams 35 may be moved from the dotted line position shown at the left in FIG. 1 along the ways 19 and then into the water covered area represented by the numeral 16.

The present invention substantially eliminates any variation in restraining forces (i.e., friction forces) from beam to beam, or from bow to stem of the vessel being launched.

While three separate pieces of plastic are shown and described, in some instances, the protective covering could be eliminated and a thicker sheet of low friction plastic employed.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrated and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape, and material as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invent|on.

What is claimed is:

beams and said means to act as a lubricant to facilitate relative movement between said beams and said means on which they are supported to aid in launching the vessel, said solid lubricant comprising:

]. one layer of solid low friction plastic;

2. top and bottom protective layers of flexible and relatively tougher material; and

3. said one, top, and bottom layers extending substantially continuously between said beams and support means therefor.

2. The invention of claim I wherein said one layer comprises solid low friction plastic and said top and bottom protective layers comprise flexible and relatively tougher plastic.

3. The invention of claim I wherein said one layer of solid plastic comprises Teflon.

4. The invention of claim I wherein said support means includes a plurality of channel members extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the hull and at spaced intervals therealong and wherein said beams are wooden beams mounted in said channel members. 

1. A lubricated launching arrangement for a vessel comprising: a. means for supporting a vessel adjacent a launch area; b. a plurality of beams supported on said means and engaging the vessel at spaced intervals longitudinally of the hull and extending laterally thereacross; and c. solid lubricant material interposed between said beams and said means to act as a lubricant to facilitate relative movement between said beams and said means on which they are supported to aid in launching the vessel, said solid lubricant comprising:
 1. one layer of solid low friction plastic;
 2. top and bottom protective layers of flexible and relatively tougher material; and
 3. said one, top, and bottom layers extending substantially continuously between said beams and support means therefor.
 2. top and bottom protective layers of flexible and relatively tougher material; and
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said one layer comprises solid low friction plastic and said top and bottom protective layers comprise flexible and relatively tougher plastic.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said one layer of solid plastic comprises Teflon.
 3. said one, top, and bottom layers extending substantially continuously between said beams and support means therefor.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said support means includes a plurality of channel members extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the hull and at spaced intervals therealong and wherein said beams are wooden beams mounted in said channel members. 